Star Wars: "The Star Wars" Rough Draft 1974
SOURCES The Making of Star Wars by JW Rinzler, Del Rey 2007 Star Wars: The Annotated Screenplays'' by Laurent Bouzereau, Del Rey 1997 HISTORY Nearly 200 page expansion on 1973 treatmentThe Making of Star Wars by JW Rinzler, Del Rey 2007, Page 16 George Lucas used ideas he'd developed working on ''Apocalypse Now ''on the ''Star Wars ''story NOTES "Theme: Aquilae is a small independent country like North Vietnam threatened by a neighbor or provincial rebellion, instigated by gangsters aided by empire. Fight to get rightful planet back. Half of system has been lost to gangsters... The empire is like America ten years from now, after gangsters assassinated the Emperor and were elevated to power in a rigged election... We are at a turning point: fascism or revolution." PLOT Framework of the plot was inspired by Akira Kurosawa's ''Hidden FortressStar Wars: The Annotated Screenplays ''by Laurent Bouzereau, Del Rey 1997, Page 9 Opening (transcription)The Making of Star Wars by JW Rinzler, Del Rey 2007, Page 19: "Until the recent GREAT REBELLION, the JEDI BENDU were the most feared warriors in the universe. For one hundred thousand years, generations of JEDI perfected their art as the personal bodyguards of the EMPEROR. they were the chief architects of the invincible IMPERIAL SPACE FORCE, which expanded the EMPIRE across the galaxy, from the celestial equator to the farthest reaches of the GREAT RIFT. Not these legendary warriors are all but extinct. One by one they have been hunted down and destroyed as enemies of the NEW EMPIRE by a ferocious and sinister rival warrior sect, THE KNIGHTS OF SITH." Rollup describes Knights of the Sith hunting down the Jedi Bendu''Star Wars: The Annotated Screenplays ''by Laurent Bouzereau, Del Rey 1997, Page 6 Story begins with Annikin Starkiller on the Fourth Moon of Utapau in the Kessil System; spots Sith spacecraft in orbit. Annikin is a tall and heavy-set young man, 16 or 18 years old. His brother Deak is 10. Their father is Kane Starkiller, a Jedi Bendu; they are hiding from the Sith''Star Wars: The Annotated Screenplays ''by Laurent Bouzereau, Del Rey 1997, Page 7 Kane investigates ship; Annikin and Deak are attacked by a seven-foot Sith Warrior in black robes and a face mask The Sith cuts Deak down with his lazersword before either of the boys can react; Annikin defends himself against the Sith until his father arrives Kane kills Sith by cutting him in half; Kane and Annikin bury Deak, then take Sith spaceship and return to their home world Aquilae, a desert planet On Alderaan, capital of the New Empire, the Ruler of the Galactic Empire, Cos Dashit, announces his intention to invade Aquilae He appoints Governor Hoedack as the First Lord of the Aquilaean System and Surrounding Territories." Clieg Whitsun, a rebel spy, learns of the Imperial invasion and goes to warn Skywalker''Star Wars: The Annotated Screenplays ''by Laurent Bouzereau, Del Rey 1997, Page 45 Hoedack talks with Darth Vader; Vader is a tall, grim-looking general present on Alderaan as the Emperor announces his plans''Star Wars: The Annotated Screenplays ''by Laurent Bouzereau, Del Rey 1997, Page 12 Vader is concerned because Aquilae's defenses are led by General Luke Skywalker On Aquilae, General Skywalker is introduced in a meeting between King Kayos and the Senate. Skywalker appears to be in his sixties but much older; his recommendation to launch a military defense of Aquilae is opposed by Count Sandage, a corrupt member of the Senate''Star Wars: The Annotated Screenplays ''by Laurent Bouzereau, Del Rey 1997, Page 22 Skywalker is a large man in his sixties; he insists on active resistance to the Emperor's attack Grand Mouff Tarkin is a priest who also opposes Skywalker's military plans''Star Wars: The Annotated Screenplays ''by Laurent Bouzereau, Del Rey 1997, Page 39 King Kayos adjourns the meeting, saying "May the force of others be with you all." The King invites Skywalker to say goodbye to his daughter, Princess Leia; Leia is the 14 year old Princess of Aquilae, daughter of King Kayos and Queen Breha; she has two younger brothers, Biggs and Windom''Star Wars: The Annotated Screenplays ''by Laurent Bouzereau, Del Rey 1997, Page 14 (Windy for short); Leia bids family farewell so that she can depart to Yuell to complete her studies Skywalker has his aide Montross to put everyone on alertThe Making of Star Wars by JW Rinzler, Del Rey 2007, Page 20 Kane and Annikin find Kane's old friend and fellow Jedi Luke Skywalker; Kane asks Luke to take on Annikin as his "Padawan Learner" and complete Annikin's training in the Force because he is dying; his entire body is already cybernetic except for his head and right arm General Skywalker agrees and makes Annikin a captain under his command''Star Wars: The Annotated Screenplays ''by Laurent Bouzereau, Del Rey 1997, Page 8 Montross reports to Skywalker that a giant asteroid or moon is heading their way from the Anchorhead system, roughly the size of Aquilae's third moon The droids - R2-D2, a three-foot tall tripod with claw arm and radar eye, and C-3PO, a tall android with human proportions''Star Wars: The Annotated Screenplays by Laurent Bouzereau, Del Rey 1997, Page 10 - crash land on Townowi and are collected by Justin on his way to pick up the Princess''Star Wars: The Annotated Screenplays by Laurent Bouzereau, Del Rey 1997, Page 18 Skywalker goes to the Gordon cantina with Clieg Whitsun to find Han Solo; Skywalker is attacked by unruly aliens and uses his lazer sword to chop one's arm off and bisect another''Star Wars: The Annotated Screenplays ''by Laurent Bouzereau, Del Rey 1997, Page 47 Han Solo is a huge green-skinned monster with no nose and large gills''Star Wars: The Annotated Screenplays ''by Laurent Bouzereau, Del Rey 1997, Page 46 Solo arranges for Skywalker and company to travel undercover; along the way, one of the princes' stasis tubes needs a powerpack, so Kane sacrifices himself to offer the powerpack that powers his cybernetic body to save the childStar Wars: The Annotated Screenplays by Laurent Bouzereau, Del Rey 1997, Page 54 Skywalker and Solo are captured by Valorum, a Sith Knight They all escape and are attacked by starfighters; Annikin's gunport is damaged; R-2 pulls him back aboard the ship; they escape into an asteroid field; everyone ejects in life pods but Whitsun, who is killed when the ship explodes The others crash on a planet in the forbidden system of Yavin this is the Wookiee planet; Wookiee is spelled Wookee; Chewbacca is introduced as one of the Wookees on Yavin''Star Wars: The Annotated Screenplays ''by Laurent Bouzereau, Del Rey 1997, Page 43 In the Forest of Gargantuans on Yavin, Princess Leia is captured by alien trappers, who have also captured five Wookees; Annikin tries to free her but is knocked out; during the fight the Wookees are freed but a trapper escapes with LeiaStar Wars: The Annotated Screenplays by Laurent Bouzereau, Del Rey 1997, Page 67 Annikin is taken back to the Wookee camp, where he proves himself in combat and wins their respect The Wookee Chief's son, Chewbacca, follows Annikin when he sets out to rescue Leia from the Death Star Vader tortures Leia with electroshocks''Star Wars: The Annotated Screenplays ''by Laurent Bouzereau, Del Rey 1997, Page 40 Annikin and R-2 sneak aboard the Death Star under the pretense of repairing the ventilation system; R-2 gains access to the computer system but Annikin is capturedStar Wars: The Annotated Screenplays by Laurent Bouzereau, Del Rey 1997, Page 68 Annikin is sentenced to death but freed by Valorum, who was demoted after allowing Skywalker and Solo to escape and is now sympathetic to Annikin's plight Han Solo trains the Wookees to pilot starfighters so Skywalker can lead them in an attack against the Death StarStar Wars: The Annotated Screenplays by Laurent Bouzereau, Del Rey 1997, Page 114 Annikin and Valorum rescue Leia but they all get trapped in the Death Star's garbage room; Vader tries to crush them in the trash compactorStar Wars: The Annotated Screenplays by Laurent Bouzereau, Del Rey 1997, Page 75 The power is knocked out because the Death Star is under attack, so the walls stop closing in and they are saved Skywalker's attack on the Death Star is successful; the damage the Wookees inflict on the station causes a chain reaction that destroy the entire space station with Darth Vader still aboardStar Wars: The Annotated Screenplays by Laurent Bouzereau, Del Rey 1997, Page 115 Leia returns to Aquilae and becomes Queen; Annikin becomes Protector of AquilaeStar Wars: The Annotated Screenplays by Laurent Bouzereau, Del Rey 1997, Page 120 QUOTES George Lucas: "You focus on the human story first, and then you begin to create this world that everybody inhabits, and playing with the lowest person in the hierarchy, I created droids. And that is how they really came about. I was looking for the lowest person on the pecking order, basically like the farmers in ''Hidden FortressHidden Fortress, Akira Kurosawa (Director), Toho Films, 1958'' ''were." George Lucas: "Mythology always exists in unusual, unknown environments, so I chose space. I liked ''Flash Gordon ''as a kid...I went and actually talked to the people that owned the rights to it. They said they weren't interested. And I thought, I really don't need ''Flash Gordon ''to do what I want to do. I can create my own situation."''Star Wars: The Annotated Screenplays ''by Laurent Bouzereau, Del Rey 1997, Page 27 George Lucas: "My dog Indiana used to ride in the front seat of my car... That's where the inspiration for Chewbacca came from."''Star Wars: The Annotated Screenplays ''by Laurent Bouzereau, Del Rey 1997, Page 44 George Lucas: "The whole point was to show how a primitive culture like the Wookiees could overcome highly technical people... But I used this instead in ''Return of the Jedi ''with the Ewoks." References Category:StarWars1974